this post was submitted on 09 Jul 2024
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OK but when PACs go out of their way to support their opponents by shoveling millions into their campaigns... Jamal bowman, an actual progressive, lost to an ancient white establishment dem who was endorsed by Hillary "beat the market" Clinton.
That goes along with apathy, I think. Being an informed voter takes effort, and an unfortunate number of people don't make it. I knew that was happening and was appalled, and a lot of people on Lemmy knew, but for plenty of voters, they just knew the names and saw some ads and said good enough.
People always say Democrats are worse at messaging than Republicans (though it's arguably a lot easier to get the message of, "vote for me, I'll hurt people you hate," across than it is to communicate actual policies), but I'm not sure progressives are that great at it either. There's a lot of internal division and impatience with anyone who isn't immediately on board 100%, and it's off-putting. I'm not immune to those things by any means, so I understand the impulse, but it's probably not the best way to attract voters.
I know I often get tired of Bernie's spiel... Like, we get it, the oligarchy is fucking us all, they've bought the government, education should be free, healthcare should be free, the minimum wage should be a living wage, etc etc... but where's the PLAN? Give me a 6 year plan, state by state, election by election... Where do we focus next? Who are we swapping out for a progressive? State level, federal level, and the DNC itself.
Sort of a catch 22... We need free and fair elections in order to get progressives through primaries, but we need progressives to already be elected to create a free and fair election system.
Right? Can hardly blame apathetic voters. Certainly won't encourage spreading the belief though. When everyone is doomer pilled is when we officially lose forever.
Okay? So work on the next one. And the next one. And the next one. Get the word out. One failure doesn't mean the end. Hell, a thousand failures don't mean the end.
Giving up means the end. If that's what you want to do, fine. But don't blame anyone but yourself and your ilk for it when things continue to get shittier.